Russellville’s Regional Airport Commission heard about a “spooky” beetle invasion during its May meeting. Wednesday night, however, Airport Manager Bobby Day said there were “gremlins” allegedly messing with the beacon and pilot controlled lighting.

Day explained with the help of the Russellville Fire Department, the beacon is working now after a bulb and a fuse were replaced. There’s also some spare parts available if it goes down again, he said.

The pilot controlled lighting (PCL) system will have to be replaced, since it has gone intermittent with unexpected results.

“Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t,” Day said. “We leave the PAPIs on at night and the runway lights on as low as they can go, so it shouldn’t be a major problem.”

Day said the path to replacement would cost around $4,500, however, he was told to submit a revised grant proposal to the FAA that included the cost of the PCL replacement, which would mean no cost to the city.

The manager pointed out the grant application for the PAPI (precision approach path indicator) lighting system and REIL (runway end identifier lights) update has been submitted to the FAA office. FAA program manager Kathy Franklin from the Dallas office visited for about 2-3 hours earlier this month.

Commissioners also discussed coming up with a “wish list” of things they wanted to see done around the airport in the next 5-10 years that would be included in the master plan. Those items or issues would then be conveyed to a group of consultants for future consideration.

“The focus needs to be on making this airport the best it needs to be,” Day said.

Fuel sales for June totaled 5,515 gallons, down from the 5,548 sold in May. Hangar occupancy was at 76 percent.